Nico di Angelo and the Goblet of Fire
by L'Angleterre
Summary: All he wanted was to impress Hades, and perhaps to find out why he had to attend a fancy French magic school to do so. Nico di Angelo, 7th Year at Beauxbatons Academy, has one goal - protect Harry Potter. Okay, and to try and destroy the so-called Dark Lord's horcruxes. While he's at it, winning this 'Triwizard Tournament' seems like a piece of (blue) cake. Rating may go up!
1. Chapter 1

_Nico di Angelo and the Goblet of Fire - Chapter 1_

Please note, this story honours the book, not the film!

~Linebreak~

Nico wasn't sure how he'd ended up in such a scenario, but there he was, stood waiting for Madame Maxime, the headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, to allow the students to sit. Once the annual announcements had ended, they took their seats at the ornate gold tables to begin the Feast. His enrolment letter (which was probably about eighty years late by this point), had informed him that he would be in class 7G, the 'G' being one of five class groups to spell out the word ' _magie_ ', or 'magic' in French. That put him front and centre of the Hall, right under the staff table, to his displeasure.

It had been easy enough to use the Mist to convince everyone that he belonged there, despite being several years too young and having no formal magical education. His mother had been a witch, but he and Bianca had been too young to learn anything from her before she passed. Nonetheless, he'd picked up a few tricks from Lou Ellen, and was surprisingly adept at magic. His strongest subjects were the Dark Arts (to his displeasure) and Potions (which was enough like cooking for him to be a natural). Meanwhile, his charms were rusty and he detested Transfiguration.

In short, he stuck out like a Blast-Ended Skrewt at Beauxbatons.

With the end of the Feast, the Headmistress then stood to her formidable height to explain the proceedings of the Triwizard Tournament, to be hosted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in England. Jokes about the name aside, it was pitifully easy to talk his way into attending as a potential champion - after all, his ultimate mission was to prevent the rise of Lord Voldemort, and find and destroy his abominable horcruxes.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the flurry of several hundred students rising to leave at once. Suppressing a groan, he rose to his feet, allowing the tides from his table to carry him outside and across the beautiful lawns, past the stables, to where G tower stood. The G tower was built as somewhat of an extension; Beauxbatons was a very traditionally designed castle, with a tower on each corner. However, as more students from Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy joined, they were forced to add a class to each year. He just cursed whatever _idiota_ decided to build their tower so far away from the castle. It was a nice enough walk in the Summer months, but by January it was horrible to have to run between the tower and the main school just to retrieve textbooks.

"Hey Niccolo, what would you do with a thousand galleons?" Nico turned to his roommate, Antonio Faustian, with a faux thoughtful expression.

"I'd buy a single room." Antonio's expression shifted to playful outrage, and he tossed a pillow across at Nico. The rooms were almost all double rooms, but there was an option to have a single, or even a triple. Nico and Antonio's room was a semi-circle, with the beds on the flat wall facing away from the door. Their view overlooked the school grounds - if you sat on Nico's bed and craned your neck to look as far right as possible, you could see the front entrance to the school.

~Linebreak~

The lessons of September dragged by. Thanks to Nico's rather intensive study sessions with the Athena cabin and Lou Ellen, he was actually a passable wizard, and no one questioned him. He had realised that Potions was a struggle when he had to read the steps himself, without anyone there to read to him. Thanks to the Mist, however, he was able to scrape passing grades. Where he couldn't, he used his shadow powers to swap and steal other students' potions. Ah, what it was to be a demigod.

When October finally arrived, Nico was virtually bouncing at the G table, to the amusement of Antonio and Claudia Giglione - the latter being a serious Italian girl who wouldn't leave Nico alone. They assumed he was excited to be travelling, but the truth was that he was going stir crazy in the palace. It was beautiful, sure. The students were also beautiful, okay. The school itself was tedious, and he had his exams that year. Whatever excuse there was to get out of studying, with his ADHD, he'd take it.

He was sat beside Fleur Delacour for the journey - she was a part-Veela in the same year as him, who seemed relieved when Nico was wholly unaffected by her powers. A good portion of the journey was spent convincing himself that it was because it was like the Mist. No other reason. The journey was mostly uneventful, but Claudia did have a meltdown when they flew over the English Channel. Whoever had let the girl with vertigo sit by the window had made a mistake. Despite having virtually no geographic understanding, Nico was dead in his seat by the time they finally arrived; after crossing the Channel, he expected to be at the school almost immediately. Several hours later, Hogwarts Castle was in sight.

With a gentle shove from a girl called Marie Leblanc (6E, if he remembered correctly), Nico was woken a split second before the carriage crashed down into the courtyard. It probably looked as rough as it felt, and he wasn't sure how he managed to stay in his seat. Antonio hadn't been as lucky, and was sat on Fleur's foot, leaning on Nico's knees.

"For Flamel's sake," he muttered, hurriedly hauling himself to his feet before the carriage doors opened. With a practised, easy smile, he unfurled the stairs and the students stood respectfully as Madame Maxime departed. Antonio gestured for Fleur, Claudia and Marie to disembark a few moments later. The first thing any of them noticed was the freezing cold wind that barraged them as soon as they stepped out of the carriage. It had been warm back in France! As they marched through the hordes of Hogwarts students, cloaked in black, he also noted how ridiculous the host school's students looked in their hats. Sure, their berets were kind of stupid, but pointy hats? The students didn't seem particularly thrilled either, and were scowling for the most part.

"Watch out for the red ties," Antonio muttered in French. "Nothing but trouble." It took a moment to decipher his accent, but Nico's attention quickly shifted to examine the ties of each student. They stood mostly in blocks, with red on the near right and blue behind them, then green on the opposite side, with yellow the furthest from where they stood. Assuming it was a similar system to their classes, Nico was once again distracted - this time, it was the enormous ship surfacing from the lake that got his attention. Judging from Claudia's (somehow refined) gaping, he didn't even have to blame his ADHD.

The man leading the group of Durmstrang teens greeted the Headmaster of Hogwarts with a bizarre amount of apprehension - Nico assumed that only he had noticed. The man himself had a cold smile, like a shark. His eyes were black pools like Madame Maxine's, but lacked the warmth of Nico's headmistress'. No, Headmaster Karkaroff seemed like he was... trapped underneath a fine layer of death, for lack of better phrasing.

"Mr Karkaroff was a follower of the Dark Lord," Fleur murmured. "My second cousin is at this school. His Uncle was a follower of the man." Nico's eyes widened a fraction as he took in this information; it was certainly something he would've liked to know a _little_ sooner, but he took it in his stride. He wasn't the Ghost King for nothing, after all.

Nico almost didn't notice himself being channeled through with the others from both Beauxbatons and Durmstrang file in - perhaps twenty-five students altogether- along with the other students. The settled down at a table with the Hogwarts students from the blue house, Ravenclaw. Madame Maxime entered moments after, and all of the Beauxbatons students leapt to their feet, to the amusement of the other students. With a dark glare from Nico and Claudia, most of the laughter was short-lived. Claudia wasn't head girl for nothing, and Nico - well. The Mist, nor the baby blue robes, couldn't hide the fact that he oozed darkness and despair.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and - most particularly - guests," said Hogwarts' Headmaster. The Beauxbatons students all glanced to Nico at the mention of ghosts; his reputation as the resident ghostbuster preceded him. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable." A few beats after, Fleur snorted in derision. She wasn't comfortable, nor enjoying herself, and had a muffler around her head which she had grown quite attached to. One of the Ravenclaw students had already fallen to her Veela charm, and had offered up his scarf to her. Jasper de la Lune had also amped up his own natural charm, and had gained several scarves and a fan base amidst both the males and females of the table. Nico quietly cursed all blondes, and the dark-haired Claudia and Antonio nodded in agreement.

The food appeared on the table, which came as a surprise to all twenty odd foreign students. Nico swiftly made a dive for the cannelloni, and the other Beauxbatons students were wise enough to wait until he'd finished before going anywhere near it. The Italian dish was something he was very inclined to duel over, and no one wanted to try and go up against him after his 'disagreement' with Cassius Vargas, which had ended in a screaming match, hexes, and a week of detention. Over _gelato_. With a swift sacrifice to his father, he dug straight in.

"What are you doing?" Claudia asked Fleur, who had risen to her feet and was walking off to the red table. The blonde didn't reply until she had returned to her seat with a plate of _bouillabaisse_ , a faint smirk on her face. _Yep,_ Nico thought _, she's still got it_. The Veela trick was fun, but at Beauxbatons, there were too many people that were immune to such follies. Hogwarts was a whole new playground.

The meal came to a natural close, and an excited tension filled the room as the Headmaster rose again.

"The moment has come," said Dumbledore, "the Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket, just to clarify the procedure which we will be following this year." Nico tuned out as the old man introduced two men, presumably government officials. His attention was only regained when he felt a shift in the atmosphere of the room, like a jolt of electricity.

"So that's it then," Antonio murmured. He and Nico were both ignoring the formalities; Madame Maxime had already explained it to them before they accepted, and he was quite certain that the Durmstrang students had received _the talk_ too. The Goblet of Fire, once it had been withdrawn, was wholly unremarkable. Obviously, the blue-white flames flickering in the brim gave it away, but Nico had been expecting something larger, grander. Perhaps he was being snobbish as the son of the God of riches?

The Headmaster wished them goodnight, and the Beauxbatons students remained at the Ravenclaw table, slightly lost as the students from the other schools filed out. Nico watched in interest as an altercation occurred in the doorway to the Hall between a certain Harry Potter and Headmaster Karkaroff, but Fleur prodded him to return his attention from the soul fragment lodged in Potter's forehead. Madame Maxine rose, and the Beauxbatons students followed suit. They were informed that the carriage they had arrived in would be split into two rooms, for the girls and boys. Rosalina (whom, Nico knew, had her own room) looked dismayed at the idea of sharing with five other people. Jasper and Cassius high-fived.

Nico had situated himself in the bed between Antonio and a French student in the year below called Henri Beaumont, who was celebrating his seventeenth birthday the following day. Directly opposite him was Jasper, flanked by Cassius and Mikhail Solus-Foer. His name was a mouthful, and was mangled by almost everyone, but the teen was spirited, and absolutely just there to avoid Mathilde, his ex-girlfriend.

"Goodnight everyone!" Antonio sang. "See you all in the morning!"

Nico threw a pillow at him, and smirked as he heard a startled yelp.

~Linebreak~

Thank you for reading! If you'd like more, please fill out the poll on my profile, and don't forget to review! It makes me happy and motivates me!


	2. Chapter 2

_Nico di Angelo and the Goblet of Fire - Chapter 1_

Please note, this story honours the book, not the film!

~ Linebreak ~

The next morning was a surprisingly late one. The Beauxbatons delegation, used to waking with the sun, were startled awake by a crash of thunder at eight o'clock to a grey sky and drizzling rain. Even Antonio, the most excitable of them all, seemed dour, dragging his feet all the way to the Entrance Hall. From the legendary rumour mill, Nico learnt that all of the Durmstrang students had entered their names. Of course, this meant that Madame Maxime was watching the Goblet like a hawk once the last of her students entered. The girls, to his surprise, were already waiting for them.

"What time do you call this?" joked Claudia. Henri almost fell over - Nico forgot that he was the year below, and didn't really know the Head Girl. Her reputation truly preceded her, and her fury was unsurpassed.

"I already hate this country," Antonio muttered, reverting to Portuguese in his early morning depression. Nico, for one, was enjoying himself. He'd seen a pair of ginger teens try - and fail - to cross the age line, and the hall decorations were good fun, and far more extravagant than those at Beauxbatons, where they celebrated the more traditional All Hallow's Eve.

Madame Maxime arranged them into a line, and they entered their names one by one. Despite Nico praying he wasn't chosen, he had resigned himself to the fact that, as a Demigod, the world hated him. The odds were not stacked in his favour. Somewhere, the _Moirai_ were laughing at him. They were swiftly ushered back out to the carriage, where they were left to spend the rest of the day as they wished. Their only instructions were to stay together and to be ready to leave at half past five that evening for the Halloween feast.

"First thing's first," Rosalina announced, "its time to celebrate Henri's birthday!" Nico and Claudia shared a withering look. Neither were big on birthday celebrations, and they were ultimately a bore. Henri, on the other hand, looked delighted. He laughed as he threw the carriage door open and plopped down on one of the blue sofas, and Nico was somewhat distracted by his bobbing coppery curls.

"Snap out of it Neeks," muttered Antonio. "Don't let pretty boy get to you." Henri was attractive, but it was well known that he was vicious and spiteful when he didn't get his way. Sparing Claudia another glance, the trio piled in after the birthday boy, at least willing to humour him.

It took a moment to readjust to the dimmed lighting and the smell of lavender, but the Beauxbatons carriage was far cosier than the castle, which was chilly and smelt like mud and pumpkin. While Henri squealed over his presents, Nico's gaze fell over onto the grounds - muddy, but somehow sparking his Demigod sense of adventure. After an hour of mind-numbing boredom, he eventually managed to haul Antonio and himself out, citing his well-known sickness excuse, and they dashed outside to explore.

"Claudia looked so betrayed," laughed Antonio as they slid down another rolling hill, arriving at the edge of a dense forest.

"She's going to kill us," Nico mused. "At least, she will if she doesn't die of overexposure to Henri's ego." The pair spent a good few hours exploring the perimeter of the school grounds, and it dissolved into a game of _Poule_ \- whoever got furthest into the forest won. The area set Nico's Demigod monster radar off, and Antonio had inherited his family magic; the Faustian clan were well known for their Sixth sense and uncanny ability to churn out Seers. They soon learnt their lesson, however, when they spotted several wolves further in, eyes glinting as they caught the dappled light.

After a hasty retreat, they were ordered to clean up by Fleur, who had taken on the role of form tutor while they were there.

"Hurry up you two!" Marie called, causing an unnecessary amount of panic. After several more cleaning spells, Antonio deemed them both clean enough and dragged Nico back outside by the sleeve of his baby blue blazer. When they emerged from the carriage, Madame Maxime was in deep discussion with an enormous man, who must've been the same height as she was. While the students stared - mostly in horror thanks to the doe-eyed looks exchanged - Nico's attention was drawn to movement in two directions. A handful of students were approaching from down the little cobbled path, and the Durmstrang delegates were heading up from the lake.

The pair of Giants began making their way up to the castle. The students hurried along behind, with poor Marie and her little legs having to break out into a brisk jog to keep up. The Hall was almost full when they arrived, and the Goblet was sat in front of the Headmaster's pedestal, presumably waiting for the announcement. The Feast felt tedious (and like a formality more than a fun occasion), but Nico helped himself to the Mediterranean couscous with vigour.

"Well," Headmaster Dumbledore announced as the Hall quickly hushed. "The Goblet is almost ready to make its decision. I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the Staff Table, and go through into the next chamber, where they will be receiving their first instructions." With a dramatic sweep of his wand, the lights in the Hall were extinguished. Nico couldn't help but think he could've done it better (after all, wands were _lame_ ).

Moments after, the blue-white flames burned a deep red, and threw out the first name.

"The champion from Durmstrang will be Viktor Krum." The Demigod couldn't help but note that the most enthusiastic cheering was not from the boy's own school, but his _admiring fans_. He rolled his eyes when he noticed that Claudia and Antonio were both applauding quite excitedly.

The process was repeated, and Nico felt his gut drop as the parchment fluttered down, to be caught by the Headmaster.

"The champion from Beauxbatons is Nico di Angelo!" Rosalina and Marie burst into tears, while Antonio snorted.

"Go get 'em manticore." Nico rose to his feet, shaking as the adrenaline flooded his system. He passed in front of the Staff Table, barely aware that the applause was much quieter, and the whispers were louder. The door creaked open, and a rather stressed out Viktor Krum stood in the cosy little room. He spun around, almost in guilt, before relaxing as he saw the short Beauxbatons champion in front of him.

"Guess you didn't want to be picked either, huh?" Nico muttered, before his attention was drawn to the vicarious thunder of applause for the newest arrival. The boy in question was from the yellow group, with messy brown hair and an easy smile. Nico relaxed in his presence, but there was some kind of commotion in the Great Hall, until it all fell silent. Nico tensed - a silence like that was never a good one, and he was ready to fight whatever came through that door. To his relief (disappointment), after a very long stretch, the door was eased open to reveal a boy, no older than Nico (physically), who looked very much like a certain Harry James Potter, cheater of death.

~ Linebreak ~

AN: Thank you for reading and reviewing to everyone that did! Much appreciated, so here's Chapter 2. I have a... solid idea of where this story is going to go, and I hope you continue to enjoy! Please review if you'd like! - L'Angleterre


	3. Chapter 3

To say Harry was shocked to be in the Tournament was the wrong word to use, an understatement. He was at the point where he wasn't even surprised, more _exasperated_. He couldn't get a year off at this school!

The door was heavier than it looked, and he pushed it open and came face to face with the deepest black eyes he'd ever encountered. They burnt with such intensity that he startled backwards. Eye contact was broken, and he ducked his head as he shouldered the door open enough to slide in. He was swiftly followed by Ludo Bagman, who gripped his arm and pulled him forwards.

"Extraordinary! Absolutely extraordinary! Gentlemen, may I introduce - incredible though it may seem - the _fourth_ Triwizard champion?" Krum straightened up, and his impressively thick eyebrows furrowed. Cedric appeared politely bewildered. At this point of awkward silence, Nico cut in.

"With all due respect, I don't think that's how _Tri_ wizard tournaments work." Harry was surprised when his rich voice held, not an Italian, but an American accent when he spoke English.

"He is too little," Krum added, frowning.

"Well... it is amazing," said Bagman, rubbing his smooth chin and smiling down at Harry. "But as you know, the age restriction was only imposed this year as an extra safety measure. And as his name's come out of the Goblet... I mean, I don't think there can be any ducking out at this stage... it's down in the rules, you're obliged... Harry will just have to do the best he-"

The man's ramblings were cut off - thankfully - by the arrival of the Headteachers of the represented schools, Mr Crouch, and two teachers. Nico didn't recognise them, but it was clear that Potter did. His eyes widened in relief when he saw the woman, who was thin, greying, and looked tough like an Athena kid - wise and astute, more than brute strength. His mouth had quirked down, however, when the man walked in. He was in his late twenties with chin length hair and a hooked nose like a beak.

"What is ze meaning of zis Dumbly-dorr?" Madame Maxime demanded. Karkaroff replied likewise, and Nico watched the man's eyes, which he had noted with surprise were blue. Nico sighed, and quietly retreated back to an armchair by the fire to observe. It looked as though it was going to be a long evening of bickering between the 'adults'. Harry, meanwhile, looked more and more uneasy. The entire conversation was, for the most part, ignored by Nico, who was too busy glaring at Potter's forehead.

"So you're the last di Angelo wizard?" asked Krum, who was perched on the arm of Nico's chair. He had to applaud the Quidditch star for making the awkward position seem dignified.

"So you're the famous Bulgarian seeker?" he retorted. Antonio had made him well aware of his ancient - dead - magical heritage when he'd first arrived at the school; Claudia, the avid Quidditch fan, had informed him of who Krum was. An uneasy silence passed between them, and a half-smile graced Viktor's face. A truce, it would seem, against the Hogwarts 'conspiracy'. Nico knew that this wasn't a Hogwarts ploy to give them a better chance of winning. It was-

"Maybe someone's hoping Potter is going to die for it." The sentence grabbed the attention of both Nico and Harry, and a tense silence followed the statement from Professor Moody. Now, the man didn't seem the most trustworthy, ex-Auror or not, but the elaborate tale that he spun seemed to be the truth.

The only issue, of course, was that this man was not Alastor Moody.

~Linebreak~

The next morning was not a pleasant one for Harry James Potter, and was made worse when Nico di Angelo sashayed in without his usual cohort. Harry had been convinced that he and the other two dark-haired students were attached at the hip, hence his surprise (and horror) when he was escorted by none other than Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini.

Blaise and Draco were notoriously manipulating for very different reasons. Draco tended to wield the weight of the family name of 'Malfoy', and had caught Nico's attention when the Italian realised that he was of the 'Mal Foi' bloodline - ancient, powerful French wizards. He silently begrudged himself for not noticing earlier, because the icy blonde hair and grey-silver eyes marked him out. Blaise's style of manipulation was more emotive. His mother had taught him very well how to twist feelings and thoughts - his own family name could be thrown around too, especially around Nico. The Zabini family was just as infamous as the di Angelo family in Italy, with both names associated with the slightly sinister side of the Italian ministry.

The other thing that sparked Nico's curiosity was that they were demigods.

Draco may have been the spitting image just about every Mal Foi to have ever existed, but that was because they were legacies of Minerva. Blaise, on the other hand, was a Greek demigod, a son of Apollo. It seemed no mere coincidence that Blaise was the only child of Esmeralda Zabini. After briefly speaking to them when the pair fell in step with him on the way to the Great Hall, he confirmed that they weren't aware of their heritage, although the Mal Foi kid knew that his family was special... one word for it.

"Let's go 'Mione," Harry muttered. Nico watched him go, pretending not to hear Blaise's mutterings about 'Mudbloods' and 'blood traitors'. Honestly, the English magical society was so much drama, and way too much politics.

Meanwhile, Harry was despairing slightly as he chewed on the half-cold toast Hermione had given him. Ron didn't believe him and was angry - angry! If anyone had the right to be angry, it certainly wasn't Ronald. Half of Gryffindor, as well as Cedric, thought he'd _wanted_ to put his neck on the line, and Dumbledore was being about as useful as a bloody chocolate quaffle. At least Hermione was halfway sympathetic, and she believed him too.

On her suggestion, the pair made their way up to the Owlery, where Hermione seemed to conjure up parchment, ink, and a quill from inside her robes, before stalking around to find a suitable school owl. Meanwhile, Harry began his letter to Sirius, and also managed to annoy Hedwig.

"First Ron, and then you," he muttered darkly. " _This isn't my fault_."

~Linebreak~

The day after was no better than the Sunday had been - the Hufflepuffs seemed personally cheated, vindicated, and victimised, and made it clear that they were no longer on good terms with Gryffindor House. The day was made worse when none other than Nico di Angelo, along with his two Beauxbaton friends, were perched on a tree branch, observing their Care of Magical Creatures lesson with the Slytherins, and Harry and Hermione absolutely didn't trust them. The boy seemed incredibly bored, but the girl was watching the Slytherins curiously as they interacted with Harry. Harry could've swore that he saw her expression darken as soon as Malfoy started talking, but with a flick of her hair, she was talking to di Angelo, her face turned away.

"Harry's close to this teacher," Claudia muttered, watching as the pair spoke. The giant man was hardly subtle or quiet, so they could hear the entire conversation from their selected tree.

"Who cares?" Antonio whined. "I'm bored. We don't have to be in classes, so why did this _idiota Italiano_ decide that we have to sit in the cold and watch some-" He wisely cut himself off when he received a matching death glare from both Nico and Claudia. After all, Nico was their resident ghostbuster, but Claudia could transfigure him into many creative things, and he was not willing to invoke the ire of either Italian.

"Well, one thing is for certain," Nico muttered. "Potter thinks we're absolute creeps."

~Linebreak~

AN: Welcome back, welcome back! Is now a bad time to point out that updates are incredibly irregular, due to the curse of A-Levels? Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It took so long to write because it was a bit of a filler, so I apologise, and some chunks were taken out of the book. I also hope that the POV skips weren't too confusing! Exciting things should be happening in the next chapter, where the di Angelo wizarding family are explored a little more, as well as more Slytherin interaction and, of course, the first task. Please let me know what you thought! Ciao.

\- L'Angleterre


	4. Chapter 4

Hermione couldn't help but feel like Nico (or di Angelo, as Harry insisted on spitting) did not suit baby blue. The other Beauxbatons students seemed elegant, otherworldly - Nico di Angelo was otherworldly alright, but at the same time he seemed darker, more evil. Hermione couldn't phrase it, or put her finger on it, but Harry did had an unhealthy obsession with the older student, and she was quite certain it was mutual. Perhaps the boys' paranoid attitudes were rubbing off on her.

However, Potions was one of the few lessons that Nico and his cohort did not attend.

Wherever they went, they'd always find the same three students - Nico, the Beauxbatons Head Girl - Claudia - and the third boy. If they weren't around, it would be a pair of giggling blonde girls, one of whom was part-Veela. Whoever he brought with him, Nico di Angelo would be in every lesson Harry was in, except Potions, DADA, and History of Magic. Hermione found herself trying to compromise - no one wanted to be in Potions, with Professor Snape's bullying tactics, or DADA with 'crazy' Professor Moody, and very few people could even stay awake in HoM.

Meanwhile, Harry had surprisingly picked up a pattern that Hermione had missed.

"He's avoiding people," he said as they passed through the corridors to the dungeons for Potions. "If he's a Death Eater-" Hermione glared at him, "- then Snape would recognise him, and Moody caught loads of Death Eaters. He's staying away from people who could reveal his secrets!"

"What about Professor Binns then?" snapped Hermione. She didn't want to believe that any student could be a Death Eater, but an underling of Voldemort had always been Harry and Ron's go-to explanation for any slightly suspicious behaviour.

"They keep calling him a 'Ghostbuster' right?" Harry reasoned. "What if that's the sort of family magic he has?" Immediately, Hermione pledged to do some research on both the di Angelo and Giglione family.

The Potions lesson on antidotes promised to end badly, but Colin Creevey made an opportune entrance, and Harry was whisked away to have photographs taken. If he managed to get out of it alive, then Ron would certainly kill him.

The classroom set aside was fairly small, and all but three desks had been pushed to the back wall. The other three were end to end and covered in dark velvet. Ludo Bagman was seated with a witch in bright pink robes that hurt his eyes. Krum was hunched over in a corner, looking quite as though he'd rather be anywhere else, while Nico and Cedric were in discussion - well, Cedric was talking at Nico, who looked like he wanted to hex Diggory.

"Ah, here he is!" Bagman cheered. "Champion number four! In you come, Harry, in you come... nothing to worry about, it's just the Wand Weighing ceremony, the rest of the judges will be here in a moment -"

"Wand Weighing?" Harry repeated. He must've sounded nervous, because there was a quiet snort from di Angelo, although he saw Cedric elbow him in the ribs out of the corner of his eye. Nico watched in amusement as Harry was whisked away by the evil-looking woman, Rita Skeeter. Some vindictive part of his mind compared her with Persephone, if only to make himself feel better. The pair of them had been in the broom cupboard for quite a while, until Dumbledore ushered them out. The man's words were jovial, but there was a hardness in his eyes and mannerisms that Nico picked up on. He felt quite tense himself as he was pushed towards a seat.

"May I introduce Mr Ollivander?" Said Dumbledore, taking the final chair at the judges' table. The man looked like a spooked owl with very pale blue eyes. Nico felt both uncomfortably bare and very safe around him. Bizzare. "He will be checking your wands to ensure that they are in good condition before the Tournament."

"Monsieur di Angelo, could we have you forward first, if you please?" Nico rose reluctantly from his chair to give his wand to Ollivander. He didn't seem comfortable wielding the Italian's wand, and gave it a curious look.

"Yes..." he said quietly, "nine and a half inches, springy... is this... elm and a thestral hair core?"

"Sì," Nico muttered. "A di Angelo family heirloom."

"This is quite an unusual wand," Ollivander admitted running his hand along the length of the wand to check for scratches, fractures or bumps. "A very old one too; thestral hairs are a rare, fickle core, and elm is a very stubborn wood..." with a wave, it emitted a rather angry looking jet of silver sparks, before Ollivander hastily returned it.

"Mr Diggory, you next." Nico scowled as he returned to his seat, cradling his wand in his hands as he muttered under his breath. Diggory's wand was well-polished, apparently, and Nico snorted quietly to himself as he observed the proceedings. He attempted to ignore Potter trying to rub his wand clean on his robes, only for it to spew out sparks. The glares were enough for him to realise that his efforts were unappreciated, thankfully. After Diggory's wand coughed out some smoke rings in an apparently satisfactory manner, Krum was up.

Krum's wand was unusually thick, according to Ollivander, and Nico had decided that the euphemisms were unintentional - this, however, did not stop his quiet snickers in the corner. His wand made a loud bang, and Nico almost fell out of his seat in surprise. As far as he was aware, the students at his school could use the Avis charm without a sound, and he was quite grateful.

The old man's pale little eyes lit up when he set them on Potter's wand, and Nico knew that there was a story there somewhere. With some gentle probing, he learnt that Potter's wand was the brother of Voldemort's - curious indeed, considering the wand chooses the wizard. His mind was racing, and he picked his feet up as he thought, and allowed the wine from Potter's wand fountain (definitely a euphemism) to trickle under his chair.

The four thought they were free, until a cry of 'Photos!' Went about the room. It was tedious, to say the least. Madame Maxime was too tall to fit in the frame, and the photographer insisted that the judges had to be in the shot too. She was eventually seated, and the rest of the group stood around her. Krum was sulking in the background, and the photographer wanted him to be further forwards, while Skeeter kept dragging Potter into the front.

After that ordeal, and individual photos (Nico was quite certain he emanated such an aura of hatred that his was over faster), they were liberated from the stuffy little room.

Harry ate alone - Hermione was still in the infirmary having her teeth fixed, after the git Malfoy had jinxed her. Then, he returned to his room.

"You've had an owl," Ron said brusquely. "And we've got our detentions tomorrow night, Snape's dungeon."

While Harry read his letter from Sirius, he grew more and more disheartened. He wouldn't be able to speak to his godfather until mid-December. Nonetheless, the thought at least motivated him, even if there was a thinly veiled warning about di Angelo in there.

Nico, meanwhile, was despondently sans Claudia and Antonio, and instead was in the not-so delightful company of Malfoy and Blaise. The Italian was witty, and his morbid sense of humour was something Nico could get behind. Malfoy, on the other hand, was mildly irritating, but very, very clever. Somewhere along the line, he had revealed that he was in the top two in every one of his classes, and that he had an elaborate web of connections - both familial and personal. Nico supposed that becoming a friend of the last di Angelo, one of the most powerful families in Italy, was a connection worth fostering.

"-I'm the Seeker for the Slytherin team," Draco was declaring. How every conversation the three had went to Quidditch, he had no idea. Blaise had already announced that he enjoyed watching the game, but very much preferred to keep his body in tact.

"I sometimes play Chaser," Nico offered, "but I agree with Blaise's sentiment." That, and Zeus would zap him out of the sky if he tried it too often. They were clustered around a table in the library, tucked around a corner with Transfiguration on one side, and dragons on the other. "Anyway, tell me more about duelling over here."

"You'd probably be best asking Professor Flitwick," replied Blaise. "He's the really short one, part goblin, we say."

"Duelling," Malfoy announced, "is best done in underhanded ways, but you have to make it look as though you're following all the rules. You bring a second, bow before the duel, and then cast, but the rules vary, depending on whose pride got hurt." Nico shot Blaise a worried look, because this felt like the prelude to one of Draco's stories about his ancestors - Nico was not mentally prepared for another one of these.

"Are you related to the Prince family?" Blaise quickly interjected, thank the Gods.

"Is this because he looks like Professor Snape?" queried Draco, an evil smirk forming on his face as he rose to his feet and hurried off to another section.

"Dova sta andando?" Nico muttered, bewildered. Blaise shrugged - when Draco got into these sorts of moods, he could be doing anything. Nico watched as Blaise's eyebrows drew together, watching Malfoy return with three dusty and formidably sized tomes, and a triumphant look on his face.

"The Pureblooded families of France," he held up the smallest book, "Great Britain," the middle one, "and Rome and Italy." That was the largest, and Nico wasn't surprised. Wizards had existed within the Roman Empire, and even before then. The book of Great Britain would only contain the Sacred Twenty-Eight as current families, while the French book was probably full of crap.

"Show me the Giglione Family," he commanded the book, wand held over the cover. The book flew open onto a set of pages: Claudia's family. The Draco seemed unimpressed, but Blaise craned his neck to read it too. Nico already knew that the Giglione Family were a long line of cursebreakers, much like the Faustian clan were all Seers.

"Show me the di Angelo Family," Draco ordered. The book flipped closer to the front, and the handwritten ink seemed scratchier than it had been for the Gigliones. The page seemed achingly reminiscent of his family grimoire, which had been left in his vault in Italy - he couldn't claim it until he came to the age of majority. From the quick scan he'd been able to give it, however, the introductory pages almost exactly mirrored this.

"Political liaisons and ambassadors," Draco sighed. "I thought your family would be more exciting." Nico's time as the Ambassador of Pluto flashed before his eyes, and he grimaced.

"Sounds a lot like your family, Malfoy," Blaise commented. "Hey, what's this about 'the ability to see and collect aspects'? What's an 'aspect'?"

"Souls," Nico replied grimly.

~ Linebreak ~

AN: Hello hello! I hope you all had a good Christmas/ winter break. I'm aware I promised the first task but I, er, embarrassingly forgot about the Weighing of the Wands. Next one, I hope? Anyway, please review, it gives me joy and motivation, even if you flame, to make my writing better. Much love!

\- L'Angleterre


	5. Chapter 5

Nico dusted his hands down on his trousers, before heading towards the carriage. The situation was nothing a little Mist couldn't fix (although when Blaise seemed to be resisting, he resorted to a good old-fashioned Obliviation) and the pair of Slytherin students now knew nothing of his history - the Italian book was tucked securely under his arm. It had been nice to tell someone about it, he guessed, but he couldn't leave them with that sort of information - especially not about his abilities. On top of that, Malfoy was an annoying little shit; Blaise at least provided adequate conversation, while Malfoy's conversation topics of choice were himself, his family, or Quidditch.

It was just over a week later that Rita Skeeter published the piece on the Triwizard Tournament - at breakfast, a girl called Cho had informed him she wrote for 'The Daily Prophet', but after reading the crap she'd written, it was clear that she had nothing in common with Rachel, or even Octavian.

"He definitely didn't say that," Nico mused, chewing on his toast. Fleur didn't reply, but feigned interest in what he had to say. "She grabbed him for a few minutes, no way did he say this."

"Apparently, he's dating _her_ ," Marie commented from his other side, pointing to a girl - frizzy brown hair, with slightly too-large teeth. She wasn't stunning in appearance, but he supposed there was nothing inherently ugly about her, especially not in comparison to the girl in green who laughed at her. If this Hermione girl was a chipmunk, then that girl was a pug.

In fact, he felt she held quite an admirable front, and his intrigue was piqued when she situated herself at his table in the library, to his surprise. Nico and Marie glanced up, curious, and she flushed red.

"Sorry is it- can I sit here?" Nico watched her for a few measured moments, before slowly nodding.

"If you don't think you're betraying your school," he said with a flash of a smile. Nico was occupied with reading up on offensive spells in preparation for the First Task, so was surprised when the girl - Hermione - halted her stilted conversation in French to talk to him.

"The di Angelo family are Italian Purebloods, aren't they?" she asked. "I've read a bit about your family, although some of the books are missing apparently. They say that you have close ties to the Muggle world - is that true?" Nico blinked, trying to figure out when she'd pause in her tirade to let him answer her questions.

"I'm a half-blood," he muttered. "My grandfather was a liaison to MACUSA in the States, and had... some business dealings with the Muggle side too." It would seem the _Moirai_ had it in for him that day, because she wasn't done. Thank Flamel for Marie. She was aware that Nico had ADHD and had been vacant for at least two minutes, and stepped in, saying they really should go, and they'd talk later. Nico wasn't sure that _they'd_ be doing the talking, because Hermione put the Thestrals in the forest to shame with her non-stop talking.

It was during one of those trips to see the Thestrals that he met one Luna Lovegood.

"My mum," she said, quite out of the blue, from behind him. He spun on his heels, wondering when he became unobservant enough to not hear someone creeping up behind him. He almost drew his sword on her, but the girl, barefoot with silver-blonde hair, seemed quite unstartled. She padded over to a Thestral foal and crouched down to feed it a chunk of raw steak. He could hear its voice in his head - much like, he supposed, how Percy felt when the Pegasi spoke to him - squeaking in delight.

The pair didn't exchange any more words for some time, quite content to just pet the Thestrals and muse in silence, until the weight of her words hit him like a punch from Ares. She didn't mean her mother had died, she meant her mother was...

"...Athena?" he asked slowly. The glint in her eye and quirk of her lips told him he was correct.

"Come with me," she said, patting the Thestrals goodbye. Suspicious, Nico followed a few paces behind. Where the Hades were they going? His eyes widened as they emerged at a clearing in the trees.

Dragons.

"So that's the first task..." he mused. From what he could recognise, there was a Hungarian Horntail - vicious, a Chinese Fireball, a Swedish Short-Snout - he didn't recognise the fourth green one, and assumed it was native to the UK.

"At least they don't have a Peruvian Vipertooth," Luna offered.

On Sunday, Nico and Antonio found themselves alongside Hermione and Harry Potter in the library. How that had happened, he had no idea, but both of them were researching dragons. With a knowing glance across the table, they buried themselves into their research. Hermione actually helped them both, although Antonio just sat struggling over some English in a Quidditch guide he'd found.

"Ready for Tuesday?" asked Harry.

"Absolutely not," Nico replied with a snort. After a little while of listening to her babble, Harry snapped at Hermione to be quiet. Nico felt sort of bad, and the situation just disintegrated further when Krum arrived. Harry and Hermione stormed off - together, although for different reasons, Nico felt. Now that the entertainment had left, Antonio departed, citing relationship problems - he had started dating Rosalina, and there was already trouble in _Paradiso_. Nico was left alone in the library, with the uncomfortable feeling that he was being watched.

On the morning of the First Task, there was a palpable tension in the air, that left Nico feeling charged and ready for battle.

"No maiming the dragons," Claudia chastised in their native language as they milled around the entry to the Great Hall. It was somewhere between breakfast and lunch, with one hour to go before the Champions were expected. The classes were just changing over, and the halls were packed.

Naturally, this was when Percy tried to IM him.

"Not now," Nico hissed, before shutting the call down. With a perturbed glance from Jasper (which he ignored) he flopped gracelessly onto a stone bench. This was the hour they'd usually spend following the Seventh Year blue class around, but Nico was shattered and wanted a nap before he had to deal with a dragon that was not made of metal.

Finally, he was ushered down, and they managed to find Viktor on the way, so they ended up waiting on the Hogwarts champions.

"It seems like we are always waiting for them," the Bulgarian muttered. It took a moment for Nico to decipher the thick accent, and that was when Cedric arrived, looking flushed and clammy at the same time. Not long after, Harry arrived, looking as though he could pass out at any moment.

"Well then, now we're all here - time to fill you in! When the audience has assembled, I'm going to be offering you each this bag, from which you will each select a small model of the thing you are about to face!"

Fight a dragon. Get an egg. It all seemed so easy to Nico, until he remembered Claudia's words - no dragon maiming. Spells wouldn't do much against the skin of a dragon, so Nico had to play this carefully. He couldn't use his powers, but he had to get the egg, so no summoning shadows to steal it for him. A rather elaborate plan began to form in his mind, and he was questioning his skill set, tiny Welsh Green dragon in hand, when Harry disappeared off, and moments later, Diggory entered the arena.

The commentary was enlightening, and everyone else in the tent looked a little green - Nico was rolling his shoulders and when his name was announced, he gave his ring one last twist.

Time to see how his Percy-worthy disaster plan panned out.

The arena was rocky, and felt like some kind of training court, shaped as a rectangle. There were sharp edges, shadows, and plenty of places to duck, roll and, if need be, 'apparate'. Settling himself in the corner diagonally from the dragon, he began to work. Transfiguration was one of his worst areas of magic - making things appear from nowhere wasn't something that came naturally to the son of Hades, but he carefully transfigured a nest in the corner adjacent to him and the original nest. This could be dangerous for him if he didn't work fast enough after this.

He'd tried to summon the golden egg, but it was obvious that it wouldn't do anything. However, there were plenty of real eggs in that nest. Dragons may obsess over riches, but their instinct to protect their young was greater. So, while he couldn't levitate the golden egg, he could levitate the real ones. Wand in hand, he picked his first egg and sent it whizzing over to his transfigured nest, where it landed gently amidst the sticks.

Now was the time to make haste. The dragon had realised that her young were in two different places, and she didn't like it at all. Two floating eggs later, she finally located the source of her ire.

Nico.

It was time to start running, and the dragon took off after him, spouting jets of red-blue fire his way. Both nests abandoned, Nico ran full-pelt towards the corner with the fake nest, before racing in zig-zags. He had been hoping to confuse the dragon, to no avail.

His plan had done a Leo and gone up in flames, almost literally. Nico did a diving roll behind a pile of rocks, just as a plume of fire billowed around him. He paused, panting for breath, before his mind was made up. He shadow travelled to the rocks just behind the nest, and vaulted the edge to grab the golden egg. Hopefully, it would look enough like he'd just apparated, but he was already distracted by the dragon charging towards him, irate that he was trying to steal one of her hatchlings. The Wizards in charge were hurrying over to him, but it would be too late. In that split second, Nico ducked to one side, but the Welsh Green had already shot another jet of fire his way, catching his arm and side as he whipped a shield charm up a moment too late.

Nico regained consciousness not too long after, in the infirmary tent, where the three other champions were sporting an array of wounds, from cuts and scrapes, to bites. From his cubicle, he could hear Hermione, Potter, and someone else having a heated discussion of some kind, but he was quickly distracted by Fleur appearing at the foot of his bed, with Claudia, Antonio, and Henri turning up moments after her.

"He's awake!" she announced in French, just in case the others hadn't realised. Fleur was immediately fussing over him (she was dubbed a 'mother hen' by Antonio) while Antonio and Henri exchanged money.

"You were betting on me?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Certain events," Antonio said with a mysterious smile. Henri, being a year younger, clearly didn't know much about the Faustian's, because making a bet with a Seer was signing yourself up to fail.

"You're in third, by the way," Fleur informed him, still checking the tight bandages around his burnt arm. "Potter tied with Krum - although he shouldn't have-" she was cut off by Claudia, who had waved an arm in her face. Nico realised what was going on moments after, when he realised that the heated argument from earlier had dissipated into silence, before Potter and Co. broke into hushed whispering. Eavesdropping again, it seemed.

His cohort was ushered out, and the Champions came together once again. Diggory had a thick, orange paste on his face, while Potter seemed to be nursing his arm. Bagman excitedly informed them that their egg was a clue, and Nico ran his fingers over the small hinges. He knew Antonio and Cassius would kill him if he opened it without them, so he dutifully waited until he was allowed to leave, before catching up to his - dare he call them friends? - as they made their way back to Hogwarts Castle.

~ Linebreak ~

Apologies for the irregular updates! Hope that this has sated you for now. Finally, the First Task! The explanation may be confusing, so I apologise. If you'd like more information on the OCs, just let me know, because I know that by throwing in half a dozen new characters must be confusing. Enjoy!

\- L'Angleterre


	6. Chapter 6

Nico should've known that the tense balance of suspicion and acceptance he had with Potter would tumble eventually - and it was all Percy's fault.

"Figured out the egg yet?" he asked Harry, whose eyes narrowed.

"If I had, I wouldn't tell you," Harry retorted, scowling back down at his book. Nico took that to mean no, he hadn't even looked, and laughed softly.

"Sì. I haven't either," he offered. "Mind if I sit?" Seeing as the boy-who-had-a-soul-stuck-in-his-forehead didn't reply, he made himself comfortable. It didn't take long for Harry to crack under the silence.

"What do you want?" he snapped. Well, there were lots of things he wanted: to go home, spend time with Hazel; Bianca back, and _not_ in a convoluted, reincarnated, way; a platonic date to the _Gods_ damned Yule Ball, but he settled on a shrug.

"Trying to avoid the responsibilities tied to being an _ambassador_ of my school," he mused. They reached a quiet understanding, and continued with their work. Potter was frantically scribbling out a Potions essay, and Nico was flipping aimlessly through a Charms textbook, when the air in front of him shimmered, and Percy's IM came through. Harry may have been an oblivious mess, but even Nico had to admit that this was pretty damn obvious.

"Nico!" Percy screeched. He was backed up by Reyna and Hazel, both of whom looked vastly unimpressed. "You've been ignoring my messages for _weeks_!" The plan to tell Harry that they were students from school and this was their messaging system fell apart as quickly as it had formed when Percy spoke English with an American accent.

"That's because I'm-" he began to argue, but Percy cut him off.

"I don't care if you're on a mission for your dad!" he exclaimed. "Just let us know you're okay!"

"I'm alive," he retorted, swiping through the IM. His mind raced to form a suitable cover story to explain this whole thing-

Potter had gone.

" _Di Immortales_ ," cursed Nico.

* * *

Harry had jumped through at least six conclusions between the library and the Gryffindor Common Room. None of them were good, and all but one linked to Voldemort. He was sure Hermione would have some way of explaining it away, but at least Ron would back him up, now that they were mates again.

Crashing into the tower, he saw that it was surprisingly empty. It seemed that only the Fourth Year students had a free hour, and he found Hermione quietly scolding Ron as he copied her essay - unsurprisingly, the very same Potions homework Harry had been doing moments earlier.

"I think di Angelo is working for Voldemort and might be his son and we need to tell Sirius," he said in one exhale. Hermione and Ron stared in blank confusion for a moment, before both trying to speak at once.

"Bloody knew it!" Ron exclaimed, at the same time as Hermione's cry of "he's perfectly nice! What makes you think _that_ Harry?"

"I was sat with him in the library," he explained under his breath. The Common Room was quiet, but they had received some curious glances from Seamus and Dean, who returned to their game of exploding snap. "Then there was this... it was like a projection, of a boy and two girls- they said something about him being on a mission for his dad - does that sound suspicious?"

Not even Hermione's cool, calm logic could deny that it sounded bad, but she was loathe to suspect the wrong person in this, like Professor Snape in their First Year.

"Did you ask him about it?" Hermione finally asked.

"Merlin, no. If he was a Death Eater, I wasn't sticking around."

As Harry and Ron bounced a few more conspiracy theories between them, Hermione couldn't help but think that this was like their Second Year, but instead of Harry being vindicated, it was Nico.

* * *

Frustrated, Nico realised he was back to square one. He hadn't figured out why Potter had a soul stuck in his forehead, and he hadn't gotten any hints about the screaming egg. Realistically, he'd been bumped beyond square one back to square zero - Potter didn't trust him anymore, which made his role of 'protecting' the moron that much harder. Honestly, if there wasn't such an obsession with prophecies, his father would have had him kill the brat to destroy the soul shard, before tracking down the rest like a vigilante... soul hunter.

Instead, he was forced into some kind of deep cover, at a French magic school, where he would happen across people who would help his quest. People like Malfoy, who spent a lot of time grumbling about Weasels - enough that a mention of a diary being destroyed tipped Nico off to the existence of several fragments of this so-called 'Dark Lord''s soul floating around.

"He's not even Dark," Nico grumbled to himself. "Grey at best. Damn it."

"Hey there-" a voice said from behind him.

"How's it going little Dark Lord?" The voices came from a pair of redheads, who looked remarkably like the boy Potter spent his time with.

"...little Dark Lord?" Nico repeated, one eyebrow going up. For the first time in his life, he wished Antonio were with him. He was an absolute prat, but safety in numbers and all. He wasn't exactly allowed to whip out his sword at every sour moment.

The twins - who reminded him of the Stoll brothers - glanced at each other, before returning their attention to him.

"Well, you're quite short-" one offered.

"And there are rumours flying around that you're the son of You-Know-Who." Before he had a chance to reply that no, he did not know who, understanding dawned on him. There had been whisperings in the Underworld that Tom Riddle had put taboos on his name during the war that had ended in 1981. That would explain a lot - people would be scared to say his name because it would get them killed.

"I'm the son of Maria di Angelo," he managed to reply. "Although why it matters, I'm not sure."

The twins shared another glance, and Nico felt a growl build up. If only he was a natural legilimens like Jasper, he'd know exactly what they were thinking. They seemed to be chasing him in circles here; they wouldn't have cornered him unless they had something to say, but they didn't seem... forthcoming, exactly.

"We just wanted you to know about the rumours," the left one replied.

"-and don't drink the pumpkin juice at lunch!" With that, they hurried off, and Nico knew why a few moments later, when Marcus Flint sauntered around the corner. Despite technically being the same age as each other, Nico found it easier to spend time with Harry, Hermione, or even Malfoy, who were actually the same age as him. Gods the Lotus Hotel was a confusing thing.

"Hey, di Angelo, your friends said they'd lost you," he remarked. "What did the Weasels want?"

"Nothing," Nico replied, lips quirking up slightly. "Guess it's lunchtime, sì?"

* * *

After anyone who touched the pumpkin juice sprouted extra limbs they couldn't control, Nico, now flanked by Claudia, Fleur, and Antonio, headed outside to try and work with the egg, and to bemoan the coming winter. Christmas was just a week away - Claudia had reluctantly agreed to attend with a boy from Durmstrang, Fleur had a date with a Hogwarts boy (whose name completely escaped Nico), while Antonio and Rosalina had patched things up enough to go together. They were wandering the perimeter of the lake, which had yet to freeze over, while Antonio ranted in a mixture of Portuguese and English.

"The whole school is _loco_ ," he insisted. "I was talking to one of the girls, and they sort them based on their _personality_."

"How in Flamel's name could that end well?" murmured Fleur, shaking her head.

"I'm serious though, the green ones are ambitious, the blue ones are clever, the red ones are reckless idiots, and the yellow ones are fair."

"Sounds sort of stupid," Nico chipped in. "Wouldn't it make more sense to have one from each sharing a room?" The other three nodded their assent, and they arrived at the conclusion that Hogwarts was a strange school.

"History is taught by a ghost," said Claudia. "Of course, I'm not condoning rule breaking, but I thought Nico could..." she shot him a wicked smirk.

"Dear Head Girl," Antonio exclaimed, a hand on his chest, "are you suggesting Nico exorcise a teacher?" The Ghost King, unfortunately, was one thing Nico couldn't hide easily. It was fortunate that they all had quirks that made them prime competitors for their school - the Faustians were Seers, the Delacours were part-Veela, the Gigliones had an uncanny ability, like a weak Imperius charm, that could compel others to follow their orders. Nico's ability to cower fear into ghosts was something they all attributed to 'the di Angelo family magic'.

"Anyone want a shot with the egg?" Nico asked. Fleur hadn't had a chance to tinker with it, so she raised her hands and Nico tossed it to her.

"You said it sounded like screaming, oui?" The group nodded. Fleur cracked it open, and the sharp, high-pitched wails were emitted as usual. Nico, Claudia, and Antonio clapped their hands over their ears, but Fleur seemed to be listening intently.

After an agonisingly long time, she snapped it shut.

"It was Mermish," she announced.

"You're part-Veela - you could understand it, couldn't you? 'Cause Veela are water nymphs." Antonio said with a grin.

"Oui. You might want to write this down..."

* * *

Feeling oddly pleased that he had the answer to the riddle well in advance, he now had to figure out what exactly would be taken from him, and how in Poseidon's name he was going to be able to get into the lake.

Entering the Great Hall for breakfast, he was surprised to see that almost a third of the students were missing. It was the start of the Christmas holidays, he supposed.

"Oi, Angelina!" a voice called down the table next to theirs. "Do you want to go to the ball with me?" He realised with a start that it was one of the twins. Angelina consented, and the pair smirked to their younger brother, whose face was going as red as his hair.

Then, Potter made eye contact with him.

Offering him something close to a smile, Nico returned to his croissant. He'd decided that the best way to resolve the situation was to let Potter see that he wasn't going to kill him.

In the meanwhile, Nico rose from the table - there had been an odd prickling sensation down his spine any time he walked along the seventh floor, and he was convinced it was a soul-piece. He just needed to find out where it was...

Waving to Claudia, who was ready to accompany him, he told her in their native language that he was just going to explore.

As he slowly made his way up to the seventh floor, he mused, jumping over a step that looked particularly malicious. Why did a castle need so many floors, when they didn't have that many pupils, or classes? Why would a soul fragment be stashed here? Why did the Godsdamned staircases _move_?

He was loitering around the floor, but he couldn't seem to pinpoint the piece. It obviously had a vessel, or it would've vanished off by now, but the floor just seemed to have an abundance of the red students milling around, coming and going like- well, magic, Nico supposed. Tracing his hand along the rough, stone wall, he paced up and down the corridor.

"If I was a twisted, corrupted, fragment of a soul, where would I be hiding?" he grumbled to himself. To his surprise, a door appeared as he said that out loud, having paced the floor three times. He carefully swung the door open, and the room opened out into heaps of junk. Although his task had just managed to get a lot harder, he grinned. He had it now.

* * *

Whoops sorry I'm late. Exam season is here, and I also got stumped on how to write this chapter. I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with it. I'm pleased to say that I've found a direction, and I think I've decided on Nico's date to the ball, hehe. Anyway, keep an eye out, because hopefully the next chapter won't take me five months to write, because I'm officially plotting. See you next chapter! Don't forget to review!

\- L'Angleterre


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